Customer Reviews

The Kitchen God's Wife

5 star:		(94)
4 star:		(54)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(12)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

THE KITCHEN GOD'S WIFE, Amy Tan's second novel, is another story that deals with family history and relationships between mothers and daughters. Unlike her first novel, THE JOY LUCK CLUB, THE KITCHEN GOD'S WIFE takes place mostly in the past.

Pearl and her mother Winnie have never had a very good relationship. Winnie criticizes Pearl often, and makes it unpleasant for Pearl whenever they come to visit. The book opens with Pearl, her non-Asian husband Phil, and their two young children making the drive to San Francisco to attend a family wedding.

Everyone in the family is there at the wedding, including close family friends and relatives that have been a part of Winnie's life since her days back in China in the early `20's and `30's. An argument breaks out between Pearl and Winnie at the wedding, but before Pearl and her family return home, she and her mother talk. The story that Pearl hears from her mother is a story she has never heard before. It is a secret that Winnie has kept from her daughter for decades, for fear of hurting Pearl. Pearl herself has a secret, but it becomes secondary as Winnie's story unfolds.

Winnie's modern day world was a lifetime away from her early beginnings in China. She was born to a woman that was one of many wives belonging to a man Winnie knew as her father. He was a stranger to her, never giving her the time of day. Winnie's mother was beautiful and educated, and together they lived the life of the pampered rich because of her mother's station in life. Winnie's life turns for the worse when her mother disappears for reasons unknown to the young girl. Winnie finds herself losing the protective life she had with her mother, the home she grew up in, and placed in the home of a distant relative, to be treated like a second class citizen. Her life is never the same again.

Because of her new station in life, Winnie is destined to never marry, but through a fluke of fate, she ends up marrying a man that should have been destined for her cousin Peanut. However, after they are married, Winnie finds out that this husband is not the romantic wonderful man he appeared to be during the beginning of their courtship. From this point in her life, she knows only unhappiness and suffering.

Winnie has to endure much during this marriage, including abuse, countless miscarriages and loss of children to sickness and poverty, and with the outbreak of war in China, she does not know what her future will be like. What finally brings her to America and to the husband that Pearl knows as her father, is for the reader to find out.

I highly recommend THE KITCHEN GOD'S WIFE. Although this book is not as fast a read as THE JOY LUCK CLUB, I found that the history of Winnie was fascinating, taking me to a country that I know so little about. The story of Pearl becomes second to Winnie's, but Winnie's story bridges the two stories together, as the reader finds by the end of the book.

The Kitchen God's Wife starts out differently than you would have expected. The start and the end share a bond being told by the daughter but the middle, that is where the true story comes in. A tale of a mother whose life was as good as she made it out to be. Winnie always thought less of herself and higher of others. She was brought up to believe that she was always wrong and that her evil husband was always right and if she disagreed that she deserved to punished. An amazing story filled with chinese culture that does not sound like a history lesson, this book keeps the readers attention and is wonderfully written. You become part of the story as you read it and therefore, seem to be living Winnie's life along with her. Along with all of the hardships and all of the joys. If you have a heart you will be drawn into this book. I had to read this book for an assignment but it turned out that i actually enjoyed this novel and other works by Amy Tan. A book for those who have lost all hope, but somehow still find enough to keep going and remain strong throughout their entire lives. Enjoy!

I enjoyed reading Tan's "The Kitchen God's Wife." Although I am not too familiar with Chinese or even Chinese American culture, I was struck by the universal theme of how heartache wears people down, causing them to shield their feelings and strain even their most precious relationships rather than risk being emotionally open and connected to one another. The story revolves around a Chinese mother and her American born daughter, and the way they've retreated from this relationship to numb the suffering each has experienced...which is definitely the wrong antidote. The book unfolds the life story of Winnie, the mother, who grew up in China in the early 1900's and left for the United States sometime shortly after World War II. I don't like to think the harsh treatment she endured, especially as a child, could be true, although cruelty has never been limited to one time or place. At times it seemed the plot got a little convoluted or perhaps repetitious, but Tan is a skilled storyteller and manages to follow through to a credible ending. Her book makes me curious to know more about Chinese culture--to this end, I enjoyed the historical references and observations of customs as seen through the eyes of her various characters.

I have really enjoyed all of Tan's novels, however this book I have not been able to set down. She uses a style of a master story teller often ending a section which you've had your breath heald through with a sentance like "and after that my luck changed for the worse..." Then you just have to keep reading to find out how it got even worse! I often found myself craving Dim Sum after reading her description of their meals. You get to know the people in the book so well it's like loosing touch with a friend when you finish.

It is about a mother and daughter relationship, which wasn't going so well. There are hidden secrets waiting to be revealed between the two characters, Pearl and her mom named Winnie. Pearl has a secret that she doesn't want her mom to know because she's afraid that her mom will be worry and mad. Winnie also has secrets she had kept from her daughter. She will later tell Pearl about her story of her life in China, how it was like during World War II, how she had a bad marriage, and many more about her past. I liked this book because it gets more exciting and interesting as I keep reading. I would recommend this book to future readers because once you read it, you wouldn't be able to get your eyes off it. Many more secrets will be lying ahead in this book waiting for you guys to open it up and start reading. This is a book you must read!

For some reason, I liked this novel the most out of all the Amy Tan novels I've read (I've only read two others: The Joy Luck Club and The Hundred Secret Senses). I actually read this novel about two years ago, but it still has lasting impressions on me. Tan brought me to tears quite a few times in Winnie's life, which did not happen for some odd reason during the reading of The Joy Luck Club. Tan kept me spellbound for the last half of this book. I loved the sweetness of Winnie's second husband. I wasn't as enthralled about Pearl's story, but their stories together made for well-balanced view of their relationship.

I didn't actually "read" Kitchen God's Wife, however, I listened to it on an audiotape version. I started "listening" to books when I had a long commute to work and sometimes it is difficult to get your head programmed into the audiobook but not so with this read. I actually think that listening to this story is actually a benefit - not that Amy Tan needs any help with describing events. The only downside is I found myself in tears behind the wheel of my car! However, the background music and Amy's beautiful voice - really make the characters come to life even more.
This is such a powerful read and one need not be of Chinese heritage to appreciate it. Love, loss, survival and pain are a universal theme and Amy Tan surely hits on each in this novel.
The heroine, Winnie, has overcome such incredible loss and hurt -it is amazing she has anything left to give in her later years. I believe her loss made her want to love even more. Her incredible spirit and huge capacity for giving - especially to her daughter Pearl is beautiful.
I must admit that at one point I thought "how can she take one more thing", but she does.
This story is a testament to human spirit and I missed the characters one the book was finished. This is the first Amy Tan novel I've read and do plan on reading more.

This book follows the story of a young woman living in China in the middle of the twentieth century. Amy Tan portrays the situation of many women during this time throught Winnie, the main charcacter. The reality of what a Chinese wife might go through really comes through in the story. This story explores Chinese culture and how a once innocent woman can find the strength to fight the unjust and cruel unwritten laws of society. For someone who has never had to experience this, Winnie's perseverance is very admirable. The story touches on some pretty tough issues, but Tan keeps it light hearted. She brings in characters for Winnie to bond with and that help motivate her to find a way out of China and out of her marriage. The other characters also bring out qualities in Winnie that Tan writes very descriptively about. This book teaches about the damage of sexism in society and all people who read it will definitly get a sense of what it's like. I really enjoyed reading this book because Tan makes it interesting by having two narrators. I recommend this book to fun loving readers and serious readers alike.

I think this is the best book Amy Tan has ever written. When I first read it, I couldn't put it down and I love this book! It's one of those books that you can read again and again even though you know the story by heart.

This story is based mainly on the life of Winnie Louie, an immigrant from China and the tragedy of her past when she was in China. Her past consists of her first marriage to an abusive man who never respect her, her misfortunes and how she finally find a man who loves her. The background of this story is set according to historical records - especially during World War II, and how Winnie fled from places to places. The core of this book is her relationship with her daughter, who was totally Americanized, and how difficult it was for both to communicate and to understand. Her daughter totally have no clue of what her mother had been through, and at the same time, she could never fathom the superstitions her mother believed in.

It is an extremely touching book, and as you read the book, you will feel like you realy know the characters, their beliefs, and a special bond will sort of developed. I would definitely recommend this book anytime to anyone.

This is my favorite Tan novel--I have read the Joy Luck Club and the Bonesetter's Daughter. As usual, Amy Tan explores the mother daughter relationship which is further complicate dby the cultural diffenrences and generational gaps. What makes this book better than the rest is the believability of the mother and daugher characters.

Compared to her other novels, the mother here is a more complete and understandable character. Since the majority of the book contains her story, we get to know her motives better--something that is usually not so well explored in the otehr novels. Similarly, while the antagonism between Peral and her mother is still there, it is not as sharp and as unreasonable.

This is what makes The Kitchen God's Wife not only a good read (all of Tan's novels are) but also a more realistic story that sticks with you long after you finish the book.